What are the advantages of LinkedIn? In todays’ episode, I chat with LinkedIn Strategist and CEO of Lucy Bingle, Australia’s Leading LinkedIn Agency all about the power of LinkedIn and how it can transform your business in the absolute best way. She gives me the real deal on what we, as business owners, should be doing on this platform and why we shouldn’t be wasting any more time sitting on the side-lines.
Links
Lucy Bingle Linkedin
Lucy Bingle Website
Hayley Osborne Instagram
Hayley Osborne Facebook
Transcription
Hi, guys, and welcome to another episode of The Hayley Osborne Show episode 33. Wow we are 33 weeks into this podcast which I am loving, I’m loving bringing them to you every single week. So every single Tuesday, how exciting! Today’s episode, however, is an interview, an interview with an epic business woman, an interview with the one and only Lucy Bingle. Lucy is the CEO of Australia’s leading LinkedIn agency.
The agency name is cleverly named lucybingle.com. Her team of expert marketers work with organisations all over the world, and senior leaders, connecting them to their target audience. Through thought leadership. Lucy is passionate about authenticity, and harnessing the power of LinkedIn to create real commercial opportunities.
Lucy Bingle has worked with some of honestly, Australia and the world’s biggest brands in the LinkedIn space. And in this episode, she shares some very insightful tips and tricks on what you should be doing with your LinkedIn. And it was really important for me to bring Lucy on the podcast because she has such a wealth of knowledge to share with you as business owners, it is such an important platform that we play in. So if you have a LinkedIn and you don’t use it very often, or if you want this social media platform to be more prevalent in your world, this is an episode that you really need to listen to.
She is a powerhouse brings in so many tips and tricks for all of us, and shares them honestly, openly. Without further ado, I think we should get started. So welcome. Hello, Lacey Bingle. And welcome to the Hayley Osborne show my podcast, I am so excited that you’re here. You are an absolute gun in your space, as I have read out through your awesome bio. Now I like to start this way, if you can tell my listeners a little bit about Lucy bingo, who you are and what you do.
Lucy Bingle:
Thank you so much. And thank you for having me on your show. I am Lucy Bingle. I’m the CEO of Australia’s leading LinkedIn agency, which is lucybingle.com and we basically help clients harness the power of LinkedIn. So we connect brands, both personal professional brands, and also corporate brands, with their targeted audience through thought leadership. All on LinkedIn.
Hayley Osborne:
And I’ve noticed that is the only social presence that you have. There’s no Instagram, there’s no Facebook.
Lucy Bingle:
I did dabble for a bit in Facebook. I then sat back and I was like, hang on a minute here. Where did my target audience sit? Where are they playing? And where are they doing business? And of course, the answer came back at me which was really lucky given what I do is LinkedIn. So then I just really need to hone in and focus on my LinkedIn strategy because that’s where the money is for me and that’s where the people are for me.
Hayley Osborne:
So you know a lot of my clients as well I kind of say all right now, obviously there’s one platform that is your leading platform. And then it’s nice to be in other places, but not you.
Lucy Bingle:
I know, I really do niche, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t discount those other channels for clients. And I know you wouldn’t either as a marketer. I’m a big believer, though in choosing your channels really wisely, and really servicing them well. If you are going to have thoses Instagram channels like Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, make sure they resource properly, make sure that you’ve got a really robust strategy around them and make sure you’re looking after them giving them lots of love. So don’t do a scattergun approach because it just does not work and you’ll lose your mojo. And those channels will die.
Hayley Osborne:
Amazing, so to preface this, Lucy and I met probably about six years ago, I was working in corporate. This is before I started Social Soul. And Lucy came in and basically told everyone how it was in terms of LinkedIn. And I have been stalking you ever since. And I said that of air. But you’re amazing. So tell us a bit about your business journey. So I know a little bit but you obviously didn’t start off just running your own business. So you started off in corporate.
Lucy Bingle:
I did. I was in corporate for many years. I was in corporate both here in Australia, but also overseas. I was 11 years in Europe, and I was in marketing for financial services and professional services companies. So predominantly with Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and the others in a marketing role. And then I moved back to Australia, I was working within a creative agency. And I was headhunted to go to a recruitment agency. It was in that role as marketing director for this search agency that. I ended up sort of training 60+ consultants on how to use LinkedIn. And now we’re using it for finding top talent. But always being a marketer, I used to think to myself, I know that when they go and place, those people in their roles, the first thing that those people were going to do is go back out and build new teams.
So they’ll go back out to market looking for a service provider. And I used to think to myself, well why aren’t we already marketing to those people before they’ve even made that decision. So talking about our expertise, our people, our culture, our values, the jobs that we’ve won etc. And so I put that strategy into play for that search firm that I was working for. And sure enough, we started to win a lot of new business. So then I thought this doesn’t need to be constrained to recruitment, why aren’t all businesses given that LinkedIn is the world’s largest social professional platform, putting into play a LinkedIn strategy.
They’re talking about their business, they’re talking about what they do, the people that they have the jobs that they’ve won, or the projects they’ve finished, because sure enough, if you educate your market consistently, and with the right message and show that you’re easy to deal with, that you’re good to work with that you deliver great jobs etc, you’ll start to win work. And that was basically the light bulb moment that I’ve had, and I did my exit strategy. And that was seven years ago, this is what we do.
Hayley Osborne:
Nice. So starting off as just you and now your team.
Lucy Bingle:
Now I’ve got five people that work with me full time, I’ve got contractors that we use for creative and other things. And we’re a really good little business, we’re going really well. And we’re getting bigger and bigger all the time. And we look after SMEs and large corporates, we even have a product actually, specifically for startups and small business to just to get them on their way. And set them up for success on LinkedIn. We have account managers, researchers, content creators, and LinkedIn advertising specialist.
Hayley Osborne:
Wow. So how did you go about hiring your first staff member?
Lucy Bingle:
Oh, that’s a really good question. It was really scary. But I looked at what I wasn’t great at. So what I’m not good at dare I said is numbers. And what really scares me the most was finance. So actually, my first hire was my finance manager. And I just did that because I was like, if I can do what I’m really great at doing, and I can win your business and deliver great work. I need somebody to get my finances sorted and making sure that we’re really set up for success in terms of monetizing the business.
Hayley Osborne:
Yeah, and that’s the most important part right? I listened to a podcast this week about that revenue is great. Profit is the number that everyone should be talking about. So you often hear especially in the entrepreneurial space that, I want to have a seven figure business, but I want to have a seven figure profit business, not just revenue, which takes it to a whole new level. So I think that’s a really smart decision, hiring somebody to come in to help with the finances straightaway. Because the larger you get, the more zeros you have to deal with. And that can be quite stressful if you I mean, you need to know them yourself.
Lucy Bingle:
You know what, that’s a really good point. So my big thing, the last couple of years has been really focusing, When you’re always thinking about learning and development, for me personally, has been really getting to understand the mechanics of the finances within my business, and really getting confident around those, that financial literacy that comes with owning a business. And that’s been really great for me, because it’s empowered me to really look at the growth strategy for the business as well.
Hayley Osborne:
So I want to talk to you about LinkedIn specifically. So in your eyes for business owners, because I feel like LinkedIn, obviously, it is the corporate social media platform. But I want you to explain a little bit the difference in the power behind a personal LinkedIn page, and a business LinkedIn page, because our personal brands on our LinkedIn are still our professional brands. And I feel like there’s a bit of a blurred line, I know that I show up on LinkedIn, through my personal self. And then I have my business page for people to refer to if they want to look up my website and whatever. Can you explain like how they differ. What should you give more importance to or do they come as equal value? Because this can be confusing for a lot of business owners
Lucy Bingle:
Couldn’t agree more. So the way I look at LinkedIn strategy is that it comprises of two halves, you have your LinkedIn personal profile pages, which are effectively your capability statements, okay, so rather than looking at your profile pages as a CV, which is what they sort of used to be recognised as because most people set up their LinkedIn profile, when they’re looking for a new gig or changing roles, etc. I want you to really think differently around that profile page. And that brand presence is your personal capability statement that talks about what you do today, how you help challenges you solve, it’s also an opportunity to personalise your professional brand. So what I mean by that is showcase your characteristics, your personality, how you work with people.
So there’s lots of opportunities in that space to be really putting your personal spin on things even down to little things like, you know, the ability to now record a 32 second intro video on your personal profile page. I’m not saying that being shaken up enough, I want you all to be getting off this call or this podcast, and then going and recording a really friendly, approachable 32 second video introduction that you can upload to your profile page, because this is what humanises you, and it allows you that moment to connect with your audience. So that’s one little tip.
But the other half of the LinkedIn strategy is your business page. So this is what I look at very much like a corporate microsite and what I mean by that is, it’s near like a mini website. This is where you should be able to land and get a bill to see where the head offices how to get in touch with you. Where the URL is to drive you to the website or the phone number or the about me section on the About section on that corporate page. But it’s also the opportunity to be sharing stories that are more in line with talking about the brand’s values, vision people culture, jobs, that they’ve won projects, that they’ve had events that they’re going to so that when somebody meets you, they then might go and find out more about you so they’ll land on the Hayley Osborne LinkedIn profile page, they’ll be able to see really clearly what you do how you help.
They’ll be able to watch the little 32 second video intro they’ll be able to look at the featured section and see your podcasts your PR some projects you’ve been working on, but then they may stumble further onto the social sold page where they should be able to get a sense of how the business brand works, you know who’s working in the team or stories that you could be sharing there. And it shouldn’t nearly be like a corporate brochure that drives traffic back to your website. Does that help?
Hayley Osborne:
Yeah, it does. And can I just point out to all the listeners. This is free, LinkedIn, everything that you have just given us is free to go on. We are living in an age where we have this resource at our fingertips that is free. You know, back 20 years ago, when was the internet 25 years ago, the Internet didn’t even exists. But our parents and grandparents literally just had newspaper, TV, billboards, bus shelters, letterbox drops, word of mouth, it blows my mind how many? Like people do people speak to you and say “oh, but I’m just not sure about LinkedIn?”
Lucy Bingle:
You’re so right. And you know what? I need to talk about that more but you’re absolutely right. The other beautiful thing that people forget, it’s the same platform, whether you are Google, or you’re a solopreneur. You know what I mean? You’ve got at least a level playing field. So what an opportunity, what an amazing opportunity for businesses of all size and scale to be able to position themselves tell their stories meet their market. I mean, it’s such a golden opportunity.
Hayley Osborne:
So you show up pretty real on your personal LinkedIn page. And I guess by showing up authentically, that’s kind of been your strategy and through your personal page. That’s the catalyst obviously, that has grown Lucy Bingle. And do you think by doing that, it’s helped you to propel your business? Because a lot of people and the reason I asked this and myself included is shying away on LinkedIn. But as their authentic selves the way they would on Instagram. So I would post a sweaty picture of me, just out the gym, on my Instagram feed. But I would never do it on LinkedIn. And you seem to have that balance like not to do that. But your balance is so perfect. What’s the number one piece of advice there?
Lucy Bingle:
So there is a lot of thought that goes around. So I don’t really nearly share my personal stories. I’ve got to be really clear on that. Yes, you’re absolutely right. And now people you know, and I’d love for anyone who listens to this to go and have a look at my profile and look at my stories and look at what Hayley is talking about. It is a fine line. What I do is i’m trying to portray in an authentic, real and vulnerable way is that LinkedIn for me is first and foremost about business. So it’s about me demonstrating my expertise, my authority on this space I know how to help you, I know how to position your businesses, your people, I know how to connect you to your target audiences.
But what I also want to demonstrate to you is that I’m a really good person, I’m a good human being, and I’m good to work with. And therefore I show layers of myself. I do share stories, and I hope I do it properly. I hook it back into my business journey, and how I’ve got to certain places in my life. Because, like with everybody, we are all on a journey. And even though yes, I’ve been really, really fortunate, lucky enough to grow this business. There’s been some little rocky roads along the way that have catapulted me into this. And sometimes it’s nice to share those stories because it inspires others. But it also shows that I’m a multifaceted human being and that I work really hard.
Hayley Osborne:
Yeah, I think it’s great. I usually ask this at the end, but if people want to stalk you, so that they can see what we’re talking about, where could they find you?
Lucy Bingle:
So the best thing to do find me on LinkedIn look up Lucy Bingle. And firstly, you’ll come up with my LinkedIn profile page. You can always connect with me or follow me and you’ll see all the posts that I share there. Yes, I do share stories periodically around my personal world. But mostly, it’s actually tips and tricks around how to leverage LinkedIn really well and make it work for you. So it’s a good one.
Hayley Osborne:
I think you demonstrate a really lovely balance that is probably the benchmark of strategy in terms of people dipping their toes in, because a lot of people are very scared to show parts of their personal life and aren’t prepared to so I think you have a fine line. And LinkedIn is one of those touchy kind of subjects or platforms, where do you don’t you it’s not like Facebook or Instagram? So I think if you want a good example, check out what Lucy is doing. Okay, I talk a lot about in my podcasts and in my business around by not marketing yourself and your business, that you’re wasting opportunities. So what are the biggest opportunities that you’ve received by being consistent? going all in and putting yourself out there?
Lucy Bingle:
I think I’ve really carved out a niche is the first and foremost. I have stayed in my lane now for seven years. And it would have been very easy for me to spread my wings into other areas, but I always knew that I wanted to be the go to firm for LinkedIn strategic advice. So therefore, I very much niche myself, I’ve focused heavily and put a lot of time and energy into developing a really good LinkedIn training programme for businesses, so that they are set up for success and do get results on the platform.
I’ve also built out, I would like to think, a real brand presence among corporate so that and that’s having its knock on effect, you once I got into one of the big four banks, then other banks noticed, and then once I get into corporate, commercial real estate, one crowd saw it, and then the other ones wanted it. That’s kind of worked really well for me. But I think their words, I would probably use their eye consistency. And I’m really big on quality. My team would attest to this, you know, I’m a real stickler around quality content, tone of voice and consistency. And you just got to know, just stay in your lane. Know, your tone of voice now your messaging and keep going at it.
Hayley Osborne:
Yeah, I think that’s really good advice. And that’s something that I have been teaching, I have a signature course as well. And the first part of that is your messaging. So like who you are, what you do, and how you help to transform people’s lives. And I think that when business owners have that down pact it’s just a, it can be spread blanket wide across all platforms. So if you have a speaking gig that, you know, you’re gonna get us we’ll do you have, tell us what you do. And when you’re putting together your socials like that acts as a fundamental piece to expand on and go back to if you feel like you are losing your way. So what are some of the biggest brands that you work with?
Lucy Bingle:
I’m really lucky, I’ve worked with some awesome brands. So you know, Tourism Australia, Westpac, JLL, I mean, there’s lots of them, a lot of government agencies, a lot of really good midsize agencies and firms as well, a lot of legal firms. So, I mean, you can see my track record. There’s a lot, lots of great people and workforce. So you know, as much as we work with brands, we also work with senior leaders within business. And that’s another area. So we very much work with corporate brands and their positioning. But we also work with senior leaders to CEOs and directors. And that’s really lovely also, because we get to position them really well.
But we also give them this opportunity to connect both with their employee base. So really to amp up their efforts around connecting with their employees and doing reward and recognition and showing leadership. You know, this is a real space on LinkedIn that I’d like to see, again, more leaders embrace, because it’s one thing about selling your products and services. But the moment that you really demonstrate your alignment to your people, and actually that you care, you show great leadership and you’ll also attract a whole swathe of new top talent to your business because people go oh, you know what, they look like a really good person and they really look after their people, they actually call them out and showcase their successes and, give them some love, and therefore I wouldn’t mind working it.
Hayley Osborne:
That’s really great advice and I feel like that’s a huge gap in the market and it’s just not being done. All right, so is there one thing or one person that has been most influential in your business so far?
Lucy Bingle:
Look, I’ve been really lucky to have some great champions of what I do, who aren’t necessarily in the business, but have supported me in the business world, and have given me lots of great opportunities. I think the biggest influencer of what I do, is actually which I know is gonna sound really corny is my dad was an amazing businessman. And I’m very entrepreneurial. And I always think that he’s influenced me the most to sort of go after my dreams and to work really hard, and to back myself. And I think, as a woman in business, that’s a really important thing to remember as well, you do have what it takes, and there’s nothing stopping you other than yourself. So you just got to go for it.
Hayley Osborne:
Yeah, and the only one that you have to get permission from, is you. I think a lot of us make the mistake of, I don’t know whether it’s fear or impostor syndrome, or whatever it is. And you know, there’s lots of sayings. It’s a man’s world I’m out to prove that wrong. All right, leading on from that, what are you most proud of?
Lucy Bingle:
That’s a really big question. What am I most proud of?
Hayley Osborne:
Running a business with two children run our successful business with a staff of five looking to hire more with also, you know, being a mom.
Lucy Bingle:
I’m really proud of that, I’m delighted to be able to show my girls that you can do it all, and the juggle is real. It let’s not forget, the juggle is real. But you know, it is worth it. And I do love waking up every morning and knowing that I really enjoy going to work, I have a really awesome team, we have a great culture, we deliver quality work every day, we’ve got wonderful relationship with all our clients. And I’m not just saying that we really do. And that excites me. And I know it can only get bigger and better.
Hayley Osborne:
I feel like you do also portray that well across your LinkedIn. And I think that is the energy that brings new business for your business. I see that with what you post. I think it’s a vibe. It’s a magnetic vibe.
Lucy Bingle:
I love hearing that. Because you don’t really know, it’s really nice feedbac. And it is real, I know, we all throw this word authenticity around a lot. And it is the buzzword of you know, 2022. But it’s, it is really important. So if there was another way to say it, I would, and maybe being real is the other way to say it, but it works. If you can just show up and be authentic and be real, it pays dividends every day.
Hayley Osborne:
So, aside from Lucy Bingle, taking over the world, where do you see your business in five years time?
Lucy Bingle:
Well, I think it will just be bigger and better. And I think it’ll still be a LinkedIn agency, I think they’ll probably be more sort of content creation happening just because you know, at the end of the day, content underpins sort of everything. I’m hoping that I’m playing tennis on Friday.
Hayley Osborne:
We spoke about this off last like two days a week you need to be out of the office.
Lucy Bingle:
But look, I will still be a really good LinkedIn agency, Australia’s leading agency working, you know, it’s sort of fundamentally doing exactly what we’re doing now, but just turbocharged.
Hayley Osborne:
And for a lot of businesses, well people that listen to this podcast, they are not as far along in their business journey as you are. They don’t have any staff members. And if you were to give a piece of advice, what is the one thing that you’d wish you had done sooner in your business when you were in year one, year two?
Lucy Bingle:
Well, you know what I did do in the last few years, I finally got myself a business mentor. And doing that earlier would have probably been a great idea to have even not it out. Even though I do LinkedIn strategies every day of the week, sometimes you can’t see the trees from the forest. So to have somebody come in and hear my vision, think about how that could become a reality. And map that out with me, would have been a really wonderful thing. Because even though I’ve been lucky enough to have done it, I have very much done it in my own head and on my own for the first few years. And it’s only been in the last two years that I’ve got a business mentor, who has been wonderful and has really given me that confidence to even further grow.
Hayley Osborne:
Last week I had an episode come out that spoke about how investing in my business helped to skyrocket that and actually break down over the last few years, how much I’ve actually spent on mentors and investments and coaches. And it has been literally the number one thing that has helped to grow my business and my confidence as a business owner. So it’s funny that you say that it’s a thing. It’s a vibe.
Lucy Bingle:
You know, you can’t be an expert at everything. So you do need to outsource some of that thinking and get the right next steps.
Hayley Osborne:
So all right, lasting thoughts for LinkedIn, what’s your number one piece of advice to give business owners right now?
Lucy Bingle:
Yes, my number one piece of advice you got to get on and update your LinkedIn profile pages and make them look best in class and make them really shine. So think about aesthetics as well. You know, a decent, friendly, approachable headshot using that 32 second video intro I know I’m giving I’m not going more than just one but it’s important.
Hayley Osborne:
Wait until tomorrow, I’ll be like upload.
Lucy Bingle:
You know, adding those pieces of content that you have to the featured section, it’s about making your page dynamic, vibrant, making people be able to find out more about you so that they are inspired and motivated to actually pick up the phone or send you an email. So that’s really important. I know you only wanted one, but I’m gonna go another one. And then start getting active, like, you know, put some energy into dye rising three times a week to do 30 minutes on LinkedIn. That’s my expectation, not more than that 30 minutes of actually engaging on the platform in a meaningful and purposeful way.
Hayley Osborne:
I love that. All right. And on that positive note, I think we will wrap it up there. So where can we find Lucy Bingle?
Lucy Bingle:
Firstly, you can go to my website, which is www.lucybingle.com or alternatively, of course, I’m all over LinkedIn. So connect with me or follow me on LinkedIn and just look up every single and follow our company page, which is Lucy Bingle LinkedIn marketing experts.
Hayley Osborne:
I love it. Thanks, Lucy. And thank you so much for your time today.
Lucy Bingle:
Thanks for having me. It was so lovely.
